States Should Invest in Postsecondary Child Care Grants

Like so many parents in the United States, college students with kids are in dire need of child care options. Unlike those of us who aren’t in college, parenting students are grappling with the costs of tuition and fees on top of trying to find and pay for child care options that enable them to complete their degrees.

For the one in five college students who are also parents, the out-of-pocket costs of attending a public college or university are two to five times higher than for their peers without children, due to non-tuition costs like housing and childcare. Child care at the national average price of $11,582 annually is a major expense and challenge for student parents in affording college.

A handful of states are stepping up to support the child care needs of student parents through postsecondary child care grants, smoothing the path to degree completion. Investing in this population of students so they can afford to stay enrolled and complete their degrees is a smart strategy; increasing degree completion can help states boost tax revenue and reduce state spending on public benefit programs while helping individuals increase their earnings.

States That Are Leading the Way

In New America’s search across all fifty states, we identified five that offer postsecondary child care grants to help students pay for child care (there may be more. Know of another postsecondary child care grant program? Tell me about it! Send me a message here).

Minnesota’s Postsecondary Child Care Grant helps low-income students with up to $6,500 in child care funds per child per academic year. Oregon’s Student Child Care Grant offers up to $10,000 to eligible students per academic year. While both Minnesota and Oregon offer programs to students enrolled at associate and bachelor’s degree granting institutions, North Carolina targets community college students specifically with child care support in the form of grants to each community college in the state that are disbursed by the colleges. Washington’s program supports care for student parents at six public universities in the state. And Maine targets the needs of rural student parents through its Rural Initiative Child Care Scholarship at select community colleges.

These programs serve different populations of student parents, at different dollar amounts, but all try to make child care more affordable to keep parenting students enrolled through graduation. Other states should follow their lead and consider investing in child care for postsecondary students. While child care and development fund (CCDF) programs can and should be leveraged to support the needs of postsecondary students, these programs suffer from underfunding and only around 13 percent of eligible children are served nationally. Funding postsecondary child care grants is a targeted way to support the student parent population.

These programs shouldn’t replace other efforts to make child care accessible and affordable at the federal and local levels; instead, they should complement them and serve as one of several strategies to help states graduate more student parents. States should consider how to structure such programs to meet students’ needs and are realistic to administer.

Eligibility requirements, award amounts, timing, and clear and transparent information are all key considerations for designing a postsecondary child care grant program that meets the needs of student parents and the state.

Eligibility requirements

CCDF has its own state-by-state eligibility requirements that affect postsecondary students. Sometimes, these requirements make it difficult for students to access child care subsidies. For example, hefty work requirements on top of school, or time limits to receiving subsidies while enrolled that aren’t realistic for degree completion can make it challenging for student parents to access subsidies. In creating postsecondary child care grant programs, states should refrain from recreating some of these problems that limit student parents' ability to access care subsidies. It’s worth noting that some states are making progress in helping postsecondary students access CCDF subsidies; for example, Georgia has designated student parents as a priority population and is piloting placement of consultants dedicated to helping student parents apply for subsidies at three Technical College System of Georgia campuses.

States should also consider flexibility that helps student parents access child care support. While it may be tempting, for example, to only award aid to a student parent who is using a licensed childcare provider, states should consider students who live in child care deserts and may need to rely on family and friend care but still have financial needs to afford this option.

States should also consider their goals for attaining associate and bachelor's degrees. Undoubtedly, child care is needed for student parents with young children, whether at a community college or bachelor’s degree-granting institution. States may wish to prioritize grant aid where the highest numbers of their student parents attend and have financial need, usually community colleges. On the other hand, increased Bachelor’s degree completion for single mothers (the majority of student parents) may result in higher tax revenues and less public benefits spending, a compelling case to support care for student parents through at least a Bachelor’s degree.

Timing

In some cases, those administering postsecondary child care grants have cited finding out too late in the fall semester what their funding will be to be able to enroll student parents for that semester. The timing of application processes and informing campuses of their budget should be early enough to allow student parents time to understand if they can afford to enroll.

Award amounts

Award amounts should be meaningful enough to help student parents afford child care in a given area. A growing body of research shows that a significant portion of parenting students face basic needs insecurity and live below the poverty line. Low-income student parents need significant help to afford these costs or risk having to drop out of school without a degree.

The costs of providing child care are rarely covered by CCDF subsidies, but there are resources to understand the true cost of care by state and type of care. States should use tools to set award amounts that reflect the true costs of care.

Provide clear and transparent information

In our search across all 50 states, we found 5 that offer postsecondary child care grants. Some states provide clear information about who is eligible, award amounts, and application processes through their financial aid agency, and others do not. Accessible information about child care assistance programs can help student parents (and the staff who connect them to key resources) find the support they need. Clear information about application processes, eligibility, and award details on both state grant agency websites and college websites is key.

Conclusion

Student parents suffer from the same child care crisis those of us with young children in this country are all too familiar with. But, students are burdened with the additional costs of financing their education.

State postsecondary child care grants represent a promising strategy to help parenting students afford college. They are worth considering for states that want to increase degree attainment and support the large population of student parents with young children. Done well, they can benefit both families with children and their states as a whole.